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  • Essay / Marxist Ideas in Barn Burning by William Faulkner

    The story by William Faulkner “Barn Burning” presents us with this story showing ideas that follow the same pattern as those of Marxism. The idea presented by Karl Marx is that the social class you are born into is the one you are destined to become later in life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Marxism is shown throughout the story with the idea that there is a division between social classes and they compete against each other. There is obviously something going on that is causing some of this division, but one of the main problems is the constant battles between the political and economic classes. For the economic class, it is a struggle because in the class Abner is currently in, he feels threatened by those in the classes higher than him. He fears that they will judge him and not think of him in the same way they would if he were in their social class. Abner doesn't like feeling like others are judging him based on how little he has in his life compared to them. Abner doesn't believe in himself to be able to rise to a position of power himself. He said: "I think I will talk to the man who plans to start possessing me body and soul tomorrow for the next eight months." By saying this, he shows how he personally realizes that he knows his limitations when it comes to how. a lot of power that he has and can get unlike other people who may think that they can become powerful. Abner showing that he has no intention of fighting and trying to raise the social level and become more himself shows how he has been shaped to fall into the social normalization of staying in the class in which you were born. If he doesn't fight to try to move up the social hierarchy, it establishes contempt in his life because he doesn't want to try to improve himself. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Abner only sees the option of violence to help get revenge for something that has happened and not as a way to move up in social classes. But for Major de Spain, he is confident and refuses to remain silent about the problems he faces. He sees no injustice in sharecropping, just as he sees nothing wrong in slavery. After leaving Major de Spain's house, he states that it was built with "negro sweat" and that the Major intended to add "white sweat" to the house as well. With these comments it shows that they don't care what class you are in or what race you are in. They just judge you based on what social class you belong to, whether you are white or black..